McDermott warns Leeds: 'Hands off McCarthy'

Anthony Smith • Published 15 Dec 2011 12:30 0 Comments

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READING are warning Saturday's opponents Leeds United to forget about signing Alex McCarthy on a permanent basis.

McCarthy, 22, has extended his loan with Royals' Championship rivals by another month, but is ineligible to face his parent club at Elland Road this weekend.

Sources in the north now suggest United boss Simon Grayson wants to sign the ex-England U21 stopper permanently.

But McDermott told the Chronicle: "Absolutely no chance whatsoever. It's not even worth discussing.

"Alex is playing for them on loan at the moment, but that's all. It works for both them and most importantly for Alex."

McDermott was in the north east last night to see Royals U18s take on Middlesbrough in the FA Youth Cup third round at the Riverside.

The previous night he was watching a player involved in Grimsby's FA Cup second round replay defeat by Salisbury.

This weekend Royals will head up the M1 again looking for a fourth win in five league matches when they take on Simon Grayson's sixth-placed Leeds United.

McDermott's men will travel in confidence having disposed of title-chasers West Ham United 3-0 at home last weekend.

McDermott said: "Both Leeds and ourselves are in good form at the moment and it should be a great occasion. Elland Road is a terrific place to play football.

"Last season we went there after winning eight games on the spin. We were going for nine victories in a row but we ended up drawing.

"I know Simon Grayson quite well and he's a very good manager and a good guy. He's doing a terrific job there and they will be close to going up again this year."

There will also be am emotional return to Elland Road for Royals left-back Ian Harte who spent eight successful years at Elland Road.

"Leeds is steeped in tradition, like a lot of clubs in this division," stated McDermott. "They have had Champions League semi final football, and no-one knows better about that than Ian Harte.

"He loved the club and the fans, but he's a Reading man now and he's there to do a job for us."

"We've had some good results recently and they could be even better. We could have been 3-0 up at Blackpool at half time but lost and we should have beaten Crystal Palace away when we drew.

"But we're not far away. We know if we play with the right tempo and in the right way we're a hard side to beat."

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 15 Dec 11

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